Concrete mixer



Aug.25,1925. 1,551,1'o3

H.s. HArToN l v l ,CONCRETE MIXER Filed May 20, 1925 l Y Z'Sheets-Sheet 1 Mii E P1 ING 2 sheets-sheet 2 ily-Mm MEW (ii t@ te ein HANNIBAL S. I-IATTON, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

CONCRETE MIXER.

Application led May 20, 1925.

T0 all wlw/m.v t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HANNIBAL S. HATToN, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Concrete Mixers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in mechanically operated concrete mixers, the particular object of the invention being to provide a mechanism that will require each batch of ingredients of concrete to be acted upon by the mixer a predetermined period of time before such batch can be discharged from the mixer.

More specifically, the invention seeks to provide a timing device of this character that is actuated by the rotating mixing cylinder when there is a batch therein but which will not be affected by the rotation of the mixing cylinder during the time the various ingredients are being collected in the usual trough that is lowered to the ground to receive such ingredients and elevated to deposit such ingredients in the cylinder. After the ingredients are deposited in the cylinder the timing device is rendered operative by the elevation of said trough which engages a control member of said timing mechanism.

A further object contemplates accomplishing the foregoing results by an arrangement of parts that may be produced at low cost, due to machine work being unnecessary, whereby cast elements may be used. To this end the parts, as well as the mechanism as a whole, are of simple construction but sturdy so as to eliminate replacements.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangen'ients of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described and the novel features thereof particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,-

Figure 1 is an elevation of a concrete mixer showing some of the connections of the timing mechanism, the major portion of such mechanism being located within the housing at the top of the mixer frame.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 Serial No. 31,553.

of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4. is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

While the invention is applicable to various types of concrete mixers, the mixer shown in the present instance comprises the mixing cylinder 10 mounted on the frame 11 adapted to be transported on the wheels which are shown in dot and dash lines of Fig. 1. As is usual the opposite ends of the mixing cylinder are open for the deposit of the ingredients constituting the concrete into the cylinder and for the discharge of the mixture from the cylinder. The ingredients, such as sand, gravel, and cement, are deposited in a trough 12 which is pvotally mounted on frame 11 so that it may be lowered to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 to receive such ingredients and may be elevated to the position shown in the dotted lines to empty its contents into the mixing cylinderl 10. The means for raising and lowering the trough l2 may be of any desired character, the present illustration of such means comprising a flexible connection 13 intermediate the trough and a pulley 14 on. the frame 11, said pulley being driven by power supplied in the usual way.

At the opposite side of the frame is a discharge chute 15 which occupies the position shown in full lines of Fig. 1 at all times except when it is desired toI discharge the contents of the mixing cylinder. At that time the discharge chute 15 assumes the position shown in dotted lines of Fig. 1. It is only when the discharge chute assumes this position that the contents of the mixing cylinder may be discharged.

As the contents of the mixing cylinder cannot be discharged when the discharge chute is in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 it is possible to prevent the discharge of the mixturel from cylinder 10 by locking the discharge chute in that position and the present invention contemplates the provision of such locking means together with means that will automatically unlock said chute only after the mixingv cylinder has made a predetermined number of revolutions.

In the preferred arrangement for lool:- ing chute 15 in non-discharging position there is a cam 61 adapted to be engaged by a locking rod or member 62 to prevent turning the chute or its pivot. Said rod 62 is secured to one arm of a bell crank lever 63 pivoted on the frame 11 and the other arm of said lever is connected to a catch 16 by a link 64. Catch 16 is pivotally mounted on pin 17 in the housing 18 on the frame 11 and is adapted to be releasably engaged by a latch 19, said latch and catch being normally inaccessibly enclosed within the housing 18.

The catch 16, when the chute 15 is in its non-discharging position, is adapted to'be locked behind latch 19 that may be spring pressed into engagement with catch 16 as by a spring 20. When latch 19 and catch 16 are thus engaged, the rod 62 is also in engagement with the cam 61 so chute 15 cannot be moved to discharge the concrete from the mixer until said latch 19 is disengaged from catch 16, whereupon spring will rock the bell crank lever to disengage rod 62 from cam 61.

In order to prevent the chute 15 being moved into its discharge position before the ingredients of the concrete have been acted upon by the mixer sufoiently to. insure a proper mix, the latch 19, which it will be remembered is enclosed within the housing 18, is adapted to be disengaged from catch 16 by mechanism whose operation is entirely dependent upon the rotation of the mixing cylinder 10, the idea being that the cylinder must make a predetermined number of revolutions to Operate such mechanism and thereby disengage the latch 19 and catch 16.

This mechanism, for disengaging the latch 19, comprises a member that can be rotated step by step, a one step movement being imparted to it each revolution of the mixer. This member is preferably a ratchet wheel 21 journaled on a shaft 22 carried by standards 23 in casing 18. The hub 24 of said ratchet wheel carries a disk 25 and an arm 26, said disk being iixed on the hub and said arm being pivotally mounted on said hub whereby the said arm may be adjusted to any point around the perimeter of the disk, suitable means, such as an L-shaped bolt 27 and a nut 28, being provided for clamping the arm in any of its adjusted positions. Surrounding the shaft 22 is a coil spring having one of its ends engaging a projection, such as a pin 30 on the ratchet wheel 21, the purpose of this spring being to rotate the ratchet with the disk and arm 26 in a clockwise direction as indicated by the solid arrow in Fig. 2.

Normally such clockwise rotation of ratchet wheel 21 is prevented by a spring pressed pawl 31 pivoted on the stub shaft 32, but upon the trough 12 being elevated to deposit its contents into the mixing cylinder said trough engages an arm 33 of a bell crank lever whose opposite arm 34 has a rod 35 connected thereto so that during the final portion of its upward movement the trough will cause the rod 35 to be moved toward or into the housing 18. This inward movement of rod 35 causes depression of a lever 36 pivoted on the stub shaft 32, a pawl 37 on the inner end of said rod 35 causing the lever 36 to be depressed as it moves over the top of said lever. It will be noted that the pawl 37 is held by a spring 38 against a shoulder 39 on said arm so that when the trough 12 is again lowered and arm 35 moved outward, cam 37 will be raised upward by lever 36 against the tension of spring 38 so that said pawl rides over the lever. This outward movement of arm 35 may be effected in any one of several ways as by a spring 66.

The inward travel of arm 35 accomplishes another function which should be mentioned here. Manual elevation of the discharge Chute will not restore the engagement of catch 16 and latch 19. For this reason the inner end of said arm 35 has a depending portion 40 and as said arm moves inwardly the depending portion 40 presses against a pin 41 on catch 16 and turns the catch on its pivot until it is caught behind the latch 19. This movement of the catch will rock bell crank lever 63 and move rod 62 down into engagement with the cam 61, thus locking chute 15 in its non-discharging position and the spring 65 will also be distended' so as to be ready to cause a reverse rocking movement of said bell crank lever the next time catch 16 is released.

Then the cam 37 depresses lever 36 upon the inward movement of rod 35 a pin 42 carried on said lever will disengage the pawl 31 from the ratchet wheel 21 whereu pon the spring 29, which is then under tension, will rotate the ratchet until the pin 30 1s brought up against stop 43 loosely pivoted on lever 36. Pin 30 coming into contact with the stop 43 will tend to move the stop toward the right, as seen in Fig. 2, and will result in a movement of the lever 36 back to its original position whereupon the pawl 31 will 'again be moved by its spring into engagement with the tooth of the ratchet. Lever 36 is adapted to be held in either of its positions by a pin 44 engaging in notches 45 in an arm 46 which is mounted in the bracket 47, this bracket also alfording a support for the shaft 32 carrying the lever 36. To take up any undue strains that would be placed upon the stop 43 and the lever 36 there is a stop, such as a block 48, mounted on the bracket to limit the endwise movement of the stop 43 and consequently the turning movement of the lever 36 when it is being restored to its upper position.

As has been described the stop 43 is loosely pivoted on the lever .36 and while the mixing cylinder is running idle, that is, while the ingredients for the next batch are being collected in trough 12 the parts will occupy the position in which they are shown in Fig. 2, that is, the arm` 26 will be in the position in which it is shown in full lines and the stop 43 will be slightly elevated by the pin 30, pin 30 having previously moved in a counterclockwise direction so that it will pass under said stop. At this time a plate 49 secured on the ratchet wheel and overhanging two of the teeth of said wheel will be positioned opposite the operative end of a pawl 50 so that as said pawl is elevated it will not engage any of the teeth of the wheel so as to rotate the latter. The parts are caused to assume these positions as follows:

Assuming that a batch of concrete has previously been discharged, the continued rotation of the mixing cylinder while the ingredients of the next batch are being collected in trough 12 will effect a continued rotation of the ratchet wheel 21 until the plate 49 reaches the position shown in the drawings. Arm 26 will also be in the position shown in full lines and pin 30 will be under the stop 43. The plate will then prevent further rotation of the ratchet wheel which, in turn will prevent overwinding of spring 29, regardless of the continued rotation of the mixer. The parts` will remain in these positions until the charging trough 12 is elevated and pawl 31 disengaged from the ratchet as before described.

The pawl 50 is pivoted at 51 to an arm 52 also pivoted at 53 in the housing 18, a spring 54 tending to hold arm 52 depressed and a spring 55 tending to force the pawl toward said ratchet wheel, although said pawl is held out of engagement with said ratchet wheel by means of a bracket 55 carried on bracket 47 so that the pawl cannot move into engagement with the ratchet wheel until its restricted portion is raised up to the bracket 49. This restricted portion of the pawl being narrower, the pawl can then move into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel.

After the ingredients of the concrete have been deposited in the trough 12 and the trough elevated, rod 35 will be pushed in, thereby depressing lever 36 disengaging pawl 31 and permitting the ratchet to be moved clockwise by the thenetensioned spring 29, this movement of the ratchet continuing until pin 30 comes into contact with stop 43 which is free to fall in its path as before described. This rotation of the ratchet 21 will result in the arm 26 being brought to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and the plate 49 being moved to a position about two teeth above the pawl 50.

As the cylinder 10 containing the ingredients rotates, a, lug 58 thereon will engage the protruding end of arm 52 and elevate pawl 50 once each revolution of the cylinder. The plate 49 not then being positioned to interfere with the operation of pawl 50, each upward movement of the pawl will result in a one-step movement of the ratchet wheel in the direction of the dotted arrow in F 2 and this counterclockwise rotation of the ratchet wheel will continue until the arm 26 is moved around to a position where it will engage a projection 59 on the latch 19. 'Ihe arm 26 has a. spring pressed pivoted outer end section 60 which will permit said arm to move past the projection 59 Whenever the ratchet wheel and disk move in a clockwise direction, but when said arm is brought into engagement with said projection upon a counterclockwise rotation of the ratchet wheel 21, due to the rotation of the cylinder, as last described, said arm will engage the bottom face of the projection 59 and elevate latch 19, thus freeing the catch 16 which, as before described, holds the discharge trough 15 against being lowered.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by adjusting the arm 26 circumferentially of the ratchet wheel 21 so as to position it at different points around said wheel, with respect to the pin 30, the unlocking of latch 19 can be made to take place only after any desired number of rotations of the mixing chamber, the only limitation being that the number of rotations the mixing chanif ber must make is limited by the number of teeth on said wheel.

By thus providing a mechanism whose operation is not governed by any time element, but on the contrary, is entirely dependent upon the rotations of the mixing cylinder, the apparatus is adaptable for use on mixers of various sizes as well as mixers that are driven at varying rates of speed.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a rotatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, -a lock for releasably holding the discharging device in inoperative position, means operable for releasing said lock upon a predetermined number of revolutions of the mixer, said mixer comprising a ratchet wheel, a pawl operated by the mixer to move the ratchet wheel step by step, means rotatable with the ratchet wheel adapted to release the lock, and means for preventing a complete revolution of said ratchet wheel by the mixer and pawl.

2. In combination, a rotatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, a lock for releasably holding the discharging device in inoperative position, means operable for releasing said lock upon a predetermined number of revolutions of the mixer, said mixer comprising a ratchet wheel, a pawl operated by the mixer to move the ratchet wheel step by step in one direction, means rotatable with the ratchet Wheel adapted to release the lock, and means connected to said ratchet wheel and operable by the charging device to rotate said Wheel in the opposite direction to return said Wheel to its original position upon deposit of the ingredients in the mixer.

3. ln combination, a rotatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, a lock for releasably holding the discharging device in inoperative posit-ion, means operable for releasing said lock upon a predetermined number oi' revolutions of the mixer, said mixer comprising a ratchet Wheel, a paivl operated by the mixer to move the ratchet wheel step by step in one direction, means rotatable with the ratchet wheel adapted to release the lock, and a spring tor rotating said ratchet Wheel in the opposite direction and returning the ratchet Wheel to its original position upon deposit of the ingredients in the mixer.

4l. In combination, a rotatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, a lock for releasably holding the discharging device in inoperative position, means operable for releasing said lock upon a predetermined number of revolutions of the mixer, said mixer comprising a ratchet Wheel, a pawl operated by the mixer to move the ratchet Wheel step by step, means rotatable with the ratchet Wheel adapted to rel-ease the lock, and a spring for returning the ratchet Wheel to its original position upon deposit of the ingredients in the mixer, said spring being placed under tension by rotation of the ratchet Wheel by the mixer.

5. In combination, a rotatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, a lock for releasably holding the discharging device in inoperative position, means; operable for releasing said locli upon a predetermined number of revolutions of the mixer said mixer comprising a ratchet Wheel, a pavvl operated by the mixer to move the ratchet Wheel step by step, means rotatable with the ratchet Wheel adapted to release the lock, and a spring for returning the ratchet Wheel to its original position upon deposit of the ingredients in the mixer, said spring being placed under tension by rotation of the ratchet Wheel by the mixer, and means for limiting the tension under Which said spring is placed.

6. In combination, a rotatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, a lock for releasably holding the discharging device in inoperative position, means operable for releasing said lock upon a predetermined number o1t revolutions of the mixer, said mixer comprising a ratchet Wheel, a paivl operated by the mixer to move the ratchet wheel step by step, means rotatable with the ratchet Wheel adapted to release the lock,

and a spring for returning the ratchet Wheel to its original position upon deposit of the ingredients in the mixer, and means for preventing said pawl entering or engaging one of the teeth ot' the ratchet Wheel to prevent a complete revolution of the ratchet wheel, whereby said spring cannot be placed under excessive tension.

7. In combination, a rotatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, a lock for releasably holding the discharging device in inoperative position, and means operable for releasing said lock upon a predetermined number of revolutions of the mixer, said means comprising a ratchet Wheel rotatable in one direction by the mixer for releasing said lock and a spring from returning said ratchet wheel to its original position, said spring being controlled by the charging device i'or preventing movement of the ratchet wheel by the spring until the ingredients are deposited in the mixer from said charging device.

S. 1n combination, a rotatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, a lock for releasably holding the discharging device in inoperative position, and means operable for releasing said lock upon a predetermined number of revolutions of the mixer, said means comprising a ratchet Wheel rotatable in one direction by the mixer for releasing said lock and a spring for returning said ratchet Wheel to its original position, said spring being placed under tension during rotation of the ratchet Wheel by the mixer, and means operable by elevation of the charging device to release said spring for returning the ratchet Wheel to its original position.

9. In combination, a ro-tatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, a lock for releasably holding the discharging device in inoperative position, and means operable for releasing said lock upon a predetermined number ot revolutions of the mixer, said means comprising a ratchet Wheel rotatable in one direction by the mixer for releasing said lock and a spring for returning said ratchet Wheel to its original position, said spring being controlled by the charging device for preventing movement of the ratchet Wheel by the spring until the. ingredients are deposited in the mixer from said charging device, and means for preventing overtensioning of the spring.

10. In combination, a rotatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, a. lock for releasably holding the discharging device in inoperative position, and means operable for releasing said lock upon a predetermined number of revolutions of the mixer, said means comprising a ratchet Wheel rotatable in one direction by the mixer for releasing said lock and a spring for returning said ratchet Wheel to its original position, said spring being placed under tension during rotation of the ratchet Wheel by the mixer, means operable by elevation oit the charging device to release said spring for returning the ratchet Wheel to its original position, and means `for preventing a complete revolution of the ratchet Wheel to limit the tension under which said spring is placed.

11. In combination, a rotating mix-er, charging and discharging devices, a lock for releasably retaining the discharging device in inoperative position, connections for releasing said lock, and a rotatable member movable in one direction by the rotating mix-er for actuating said connections, and a spring for rotating said member in the opposite direction to restore it to its original position after the lock is released.

12. In combination, a rotating mixer, charging' and discharging devices, a lock for releasably retaining the discharging device in inoperative position, connections for releasing said lock, and a rotatable member movable in one direction by the rotating mixer for actuating said connections, a spring for rotating said member in the opposite direction to restore it to its original position after the lock is released, and means for limiting the rotation of saiid member by the mixer.

13. In combination, a rotating mixer, a charging trough, a discharge chute, a catch connected to the chute, a latch engageable With said catch for releasably holding the chute in inoperative position, a member rotatable in one direction by the rotating mixer, an arm rotatable with said member and adapted to engage said latch to dis engage the same from the catch, means connected to said member for rotating` it in the opposite direction to restore it to its original position after the latch has been disengaged, and means operable by the charging trough for controlling said restoring means.

14. In combination, a rotating mixer, a charging trough, a discharge chute, a catch connected to the chute, a latch engageable with said catch for releasably holding the chute in inoperative position, a member rotatable in one direction by the rotating mixer, an arm rotatable With said member and adapted to engage said latch to disengage the same from the catch, means connected to said member for rotating it in the opposite direction to restore it to its original position after the latch has been disengaged, means operable by the charging trough for controlling said restoring means, and means for limiting rotation of said member by the mixer and means for limiting the return movement of said member.

15. In combination, a rotating mixer, a

charging trough, a discharge chute, a catch connected to the chute, a latch engagcable with said catch for releasably holding the chute in inoperative position, a member rotatable in one direction by the rotating mixer, an arm rotatable with said member and adapted to engage said latch to disengage the sam-e `from the catch, means for rotating said member in the opposite direction to restore it to its original position after the latch has been disengaged, and means operable by the charging trough tor controlling said restoring means, said arm being adjustable about the axis of rotation oi said rotatable member to vary the extent ot movement required by said member and arm to disengage the latch and catch.

16. In combination, a rotatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, a lock for releasably holding said discharging device in inoperative position, means for unlocking the discharging device after the mixer has made a predetermined number of revolutions, said means comprising a ratchet rotatable step by step, each revolution of the mixer adapted to release said discharge device upon a predetermined number of revolutions of the mixer, and means connected with the ratchet Wheel for varying the number of revolutions said mixer must make to release said discharging device, a plate secured to said ratchet Wheel and overhanging one of the teeth thereof to prevent the pavvl engaging said tooth when same is brought into cooperative relation With the pawl whereby rotation of the ratchet Wheel by the mixer is limited to one revolution of the Wheel.

17. In combination, a rotatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, a lock for releasably holding said discharge device in inoperative position, a ratchet rotatable step by step each revolution of the mixer and adapted to release said lock for the discharge device upon a predetermined number of revolutions of the mixer, a spring adapted to be placed under tension by the rotation of the ratchet Wheel by the mixer for returning the ratchet Wheel to its predetermined position after said lock has been released, a holding pavvl engaging said ratchet Wheel While the same is being rotated by the mixer, and means operable by the charging device for disengaging said holding paWl Jfrom the ratchet Wheel.

18. In combination, a rotatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, a lock for releasably holding said discharge device in inoperative position, a ratchet rotatable step by step each revolution of the mixer and adapted to release said lock for the discharge device upon a predetermined number of revolutions of the mixer, a spring adapted to be placed under tension by the rotation of the ratchet Wheel by the mixer for returning the ratchet Wheel to its predetermined position after said lock has been released, a holding paWl engaging said ratchet Wheel While the sameis being rotated bythe mixer, and means operable by the charging device for disengaging said holding pawl from the ratchet Wheel, Whereby the spring may function to return the ratchet Wheel to its original position, and a stop engaging the ratchet Wheel to limit its return movement.

19. In combination, a rotatable mixer, charging and discharging devices, a lock for releasably holding` said discharge device in inoperative position, a ratchet rotatable step by step each revolution of the mixer and adapted to release said lock for the discharge device upon a predetermined number of revolutions of the mixer, a spring adapted to be placed under tension by the rotation of the ratchet Wheel by the mixer for returning 'the ratchet Wheel to its predetermined position after said lock has been released, a holding paWl engaging said ratchet Wheel While the same is being rotated by the mixer, and means operable by the charging device for disengaging said holding paWl from the ratchet Wheel, said stop being connected to the holding pavvl 'to restore said paWl t0 position in enga-gement With the ratchet Wheel When the return movement of the ratchet Wheel is arrested by said stop.

HANNIBAL S. HATTON. 

